Hi Andy

For President Bush to be elected, he must capture undecided moderates in

the swing states. To appeal to the moderate undecided voter, the RNC has

put a mild face on its convention with keynote speakers that oppose a

constitutional amended against gay marriage and who favor a woman's right

to choice regarding abortion, which puts the convention in direct

opposition to the official Republican party platform.

However, the core of the Republican party, including the Bush

Administration and Republican leaders of both houses of our Legislature,

are far right of the compassionate mask being presented. The official

Republican platform, which is about 93 pages long, is quit extreme to

appease the Religious Right, who have become a strong political force and

who President Bush also needs if he is to be re-elected.

This has resulted in the Republican convention sending mixed messages to

the voters as the party has become two faced. I would characterize the

Republican party as a party suffering an identity crisis.

Regards,

LelandJ

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On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 11:12:28 am CDT "Andy's mail" wrote:

So now that the republicans have announced their position, they would seem

to be powerfully allied with the christian right's agenda. As a result, the

platform calls for an end to all abortions and for a constitutional ban on

gay marriage.

For those of you old enough to remember the horrible circumstances for

young, particularly poor, pregnant women in america before legalized

abortion, I wonder what your attitude is considering the republican's call

to roll back the clock to the 1960s. Do you find this position defensible?

As far as the gay marriage issue, what the hell does it matter to the

republicans? This is one of those emotional issues that is more flash than

substance considering the issue affects society very little in the long run.

The question is, why is this on the platform if not to pander to the

exaggerated fears of middle, christian america?

I, for one, were I a republican, would be somewhat embarassed to see a

basically moderate guy like Bush endorsing a platform that is crafted so

cravenly to gain the support of the lowest common denominator of the

republican constituency. That's not the 'courageous fighter' leitmotif that

Bush wants to portray. I wonder what he says to his daughters.

Andy

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